The current disclosure relates to a network device that processes packets.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
A modern network device that processes packets typically includes processing units or “processing engines” serially arranged to process packets in what is understood as a pipeline configuration. In a pipeline configuration, packets are processed in stages so as to achieve a high rate of throughput.